The Australian Greens have unveiled a plan to establish a National Renters Protection Authority (NRPA) to enforce rental standards and penalise ‘dodgy’ landlords and real estate agencies.
Under the proposal, the NRPA would have the power to issue on-the-spot fines of up to $78,250 for serious breaches of tenancy laws according to the Herald Sun.
The authority would also be responsible for enforcing a proposed two-year rental freeze and subsequent cap on rent increases.
Greens housing and homelessness spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said the current system is “stacked against renters” and that a national authority is needed to protect their rights.
“Across this country, there are seven million renters who are powerless in their own home, unable to push back against unfair rent hikes, dodgy agents and landlords who never do basic repairs,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.
The NRPA would be staffed by approximately 100 employees nationwide, tasked with investigating rental breaches and providing support to renters.
The authority is estimated to cost about $200 million annually to operate, based on analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Under the Greens’ plan, individual landlords could face fines of up to $3,756 for minor infractions, while real estate agencies could be penalised up to $18,780.
For serious or repeat offences, fines could reach $15,650 for individual landlords and $78,250 for agencies.
The proposed authority would have the power to independently investigate complaints and refer serious offenders for prosecution by state and territory authorities.
Mr Chandler-Mather said that Australia is currently “one of the worst places in the world to be a renter” and that the Greens’ plan would provide legal enforcement of minimum standards and limits on rent increases.
REIA President Leanne Pilkington said the majority of landlords and agencies do the right thing.
“I’d be interested to know how many dodgy landlords they think there are?” Mr Pilkington said.
“And how do they define a dodgy landlord and why, and what makes them think there’s so many that $200 million dollars and 100 staff is a good idea?”
Ms Pilkington said she would prefer to see that money used to allocate more resources to Fair Trading divisions and give them more power.
“Give fair trading the resources that they need,” she said.
“Part of the problem with Fair Trading is that they just don’t have the resources.
“They don’t have enough investigators to do what they need to do.
“So it seems ridiculous to recreate the wheel.”
Executive Director of Better Renting, Joel Dignam said he thinks there is merit to the Greens’ plan.
“I think it’s of great value,” Mr Dignam said.
“I think the value add is partly driving more consistency in rental laws and better rental laws across the country and then also the enforcement of those rental laws.
“These are two pretty neglected areas that do need more work.”
He said he would be supportive of more funding and power for Fair Trading, but is worried that sometimes tenants get overlooked.
“We have found that the tenancy law sits a bit apart from consumer law,” he said.
“Sometimes consumer law applies if there’s misleading or deceptive conduct.
“But a lot of things, like if your agent isn’t doing repairs, they’re not really the scope of the consumer law as it currently exists so there is a need for a separate authority who is going to be focused in this space and being there to enforce the laws.”
